


Life After High School

by smallearthcat (vamplover82)



Category: Big Wolf on Campus
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 03:19:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13091334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vamplover82/pseuds/smallearthcat
Summary: To say that Tommy was shocked when Merton showed up in his dorm as his roommate was a complete understatement. Not to mention thrilled.





	Life After High School

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoggledMonkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoggledMonkey/gifts).



To say that Tommy was shocked when Merton showed up in his dorm as his roommate was a complete understatement. Not to mention thrilled. One of the biggest disappointments of his senior year at Pleasantville High had been when he'd learned that neither of his best friends were going to college with him. So naturally, his first reaction was to lift Merton up in a bear hug so tight he was a little worried he'd end up actually crushing his friend.

" _Tommy_ ," Merton protested, "put me down."

Tommy did eventually, but only after they'd both stopped laughing.

"I can't believe you're really here," he said, flopping down on his bed.

He sounded relieved, even to his own ears. It wasn't much of a surprise given that he wasn't at all sure he'd have been able to do this on his own, especially not with the added obstacle of being a werewolf. Sure, Merton still could have helped him over the phone or whatever, but it wouldn't have been the same. What if something had happened while Merton was in class and Tommy couldn't get a hold of him? It was something he'd tried not to consider too much because it hurt to think about. And now he wouldn't have to worry about it.

Tommy sighed in satisfaction as he watched Merton unpacking his things, humming while he worked; he was obviously happy, too, and at that moment, Tommy thought that he couldn't have asked for anything better.

***

Of course, not all good things could last, and the high of having Merton there with him was soon overtaken by the challenges of being in college. Classes were a lot harder, even though he knew he was taking the most basic gen eds, and he had to spend a significant amount of time studying. Luckily, Merton had always been big on studying, so they still spent plenty if time together, just at the library rather than holed up in the lair. Tommy was quickly growing to miss the days of poking around Merton's stuff while Merton tried to figure out how to beat whatever monster was threatening Pleasantville. 

On the other hand, life was a lot less monster-filled than it had been, and he appreciated not literally having the weight of the world on his shoulders all the time. If only that hadn't left him with so much excess energy all the time. It wasn't so bad at first; he could wolf out and take a few laps around campus at night, and when he got back, he'd be tired enough to sleep.

That was before he was reminded they went to school with lots of others from Pleasantville, others who knew all about the wolf man and might recognize him that way. After he nearly ran into a group of them staggering their way home from a party, he started doing shorter runs later at night. And even then, he still worried about someone catching him, feeling like he was constantly looking over his shoulder.

And maybe he could've dealt with _that_ better if he didn't also have to try to hold back during football practice. It got to the point where he was actually glad not to be first string, because maybe he was antsy sitting on the side of the field during games, but at least there was no chance he accidentally make too hard a throw or run too fast in front of thousands of people.

Those things were mostly superficial, though, just amped up versions of things he'd been dealing with back at home. There was a lot to be said for the benefits of college. Not having to worry about his parents figuring out he was a werewolf because he wasn't careful enough coming back home after a night out was amazing. And that was where living with Merton was extremely useful; he didn't have any idea how he'd have been able to hide it from a roommate, and this way, there was nothing to think about.

And that was one of the other benefits of living with Merton; pretty much no one there questioned their friendship because they didn't regularly see anyone from back home. They still got the odd look here and there, but people seemed to be a lot less cliquey than in high school, so no one really seemed to care if they were an odd pair. He never had to defend his choice to spend time with Merton, and that suited him just fine.

It was more of a mixed bag with regards to Merton's never-ending quest for information about werewolves. Having their own space, where they could lock the door and be sure no one would come in, meant that Merton hesitated even less to ask him to wolf out and do all kinds of random things. Check how well he could see at various light levels, see how long he could do jumping jacks before getting tired, provide hair and saliva samples for...well, Tommy didn't really want to know too much about what those were for - he trusted Merton enough to provide them and be done with it.

The funny thing was, though, that because he never really got questions about why he was spending time with Merton at all, Tommy never gave spending basically all of his time with Merton a second thought. If they weren't in class or at their respective extracurricular activities, they tended to be together, because that was how they both wanted it. Merton was getting better at making friends (especially ones of the entirely human variety), now that he didn't have his reputation as a freak following him around everywhere, and Tommy still had football and dorm buddies, but they'd both sort of fallen into the habit of tagging along on most outings, regardless of whose friends had planned it.

In retrospect, it was kind of naive of Tommy to assume things would just stay that way. He knew they'd graduate eventually, and have to move away from each other, move on with their lives, but he knew it in the same kind of way he'd known things wouldn't be the same after high school - there was the vague idea that things would change, but no real idea of what that might look like and no question that the two of them would be friends no matter what happened.

So, it was a bit of a surprise when he was a few doors down, playing video games with his friend Adam, when Adam asked, "Where's the boyfriend?"

"What?" Tommy asked, distracted with trying not to die.

"Your boyfriend? Goth kid, spiky hair, permanently attached to your side. Goes by Merton?"

"Wait, _what_?" Tommy looked away from the TV, and he died spectacularly without noticing. "Merton's not my boyfriend."

Adam laughed like that was funny, and Tommy blushed, confused and not sure how to respond to that.

"Yeah right, dude. Nobody spends that much time locked in a tiny ass dorm room with their roommate, no matter how much they like each other. Besides," Adam continued, apparently not noticing that Tommy was floundering for something to say, "I think we both know you aren't working out in there, not when you have football player access to the gym."

Adam turned to wiggle his eyebrows at Tommy and finally seemed to notice that Tommy was completely tongue-tied. "Aw, dude, no. It's cool. You know like, none of us care, right?"

"I don't-" Tommy wasn't sure what he was trying to say, and it still wouldn't come anyway.

"Tommy?"

Normally, Tommy would be grateful for Merton interrupting such an awkward moment, but given the topic of conversation, his presence doesn't exactly help.

"Derek said you were down here. You wanna go get dinner?"

He looked concerned when Tommy made a choking sound, and Adam was no help, laughing at Tommy's reaction. Tommy glares at him, which only made him laugh harder.

"You're an asshole," Tommy said as he got up and followed Merton out of the room.

"What was that about?" Merton looked concerned, probably because Tommy was still obviously flustered.

And Tommy hated that, when Merton had to worry, especially when it was about him. So, he forced a smile onto his face and put his arm around Merton's shoulders. "I'll tell you later, buddy."

***

Unfortunately, Tommy was kind of terrible at keeping it from showing when he was distracted, and Merton definitely noticed how quiet he was being throughout dinner. He kept pausing while he rambled, looking like he wanted to ask what was up, but thankfully, he didn't. 

Eventually, Merton got tired of some part of it, stuffing as many chicken tenders as he could into his to-go cup and gesturing for Tommy to do the same. Tommy did, if only because he knew he'd be hungry later after having only picked at his dinner. 

The second they were out of the dining hall, Merton was letting out all the questions he'd obviously been holding back. "Okay, what's wrong? It's nothing wolfy is it? Like, you're not sensing anything weird? No monsters nearby? Wait." Merton stops dead and grabs at Tommy's sleeve. " _Adam's_ not a monster, is he?"

"What? No! Calm down. He just...said something that I was thinking about."

He couldn't stop thinking about it, really, because they weren't like that, right? Surely not. They couldn't possibly be codependent enough that everyone thought they were together. That was the real sticking point for him, because Adam had definitely made it sound like it was more than just him who thought that.

And it wasn't that Tommy really minded, so much as it was that he wondered how he hadn't noticed himself. After all, they were pretty much always together, and Tommy wasn't really looking to change that. And he'd be lying if he said he didn't find Merton somewhat (maybe more than somewhat) attractive. It had always just been easier to ignore it, because there was Stacy, and then Lori, and everyone's expectations of him. Which, true, he'd been flouting just by hanging out with Merton, but they were two very different types of expectations.

Tommy sighed and flopped down on his bed the second they got back to their room.

"Tommy, you ok?"

Merton sounded really concerned, which wasn't what Tommy had wanted at all. "I'm fine. Just, apparently everyone thinks were boyfriends."

Merton, having been in the process of sitting on his bed, missed the bed entirely and ended up on the floor. "What?"

He'd turned bright red like Tommy had never seen before, and despite the fact that he wanted this to be a serious conversation, he couldn't help laughing a little. Merton scrambled up onto the bed, brushing himself off and looking like he wanted nothing more than to say he'd meant to do that. He scowled when he saw Tommy still grinning, and that brought Tommy back to the topic at hand.

"Yeah, Adam mentioned it. And I guess it's like, the whole floor or something."

"I knew it was too good to last." It was muttered low enough that if Tommy's hearing hadn't been so good, he probably wouldn't have caught it.

"What's too good to last?"

Merton looked scared for a second before hiding it behind a weak smile. "Well, all this, I suppose." He waved his hand around as if to encompass everything. "Being friends with you, not being harassed by the jock contingent for being a threat to masculinity, or whatever."

Tommy opened his mouth, but nothing came out, because he really didn't know what to say to that.

"So, I'll go to the housing office first thing tomorrow-"

"What? No. Why would you do that?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Merton sounded so matter of fact about it, that Tommy wanted to punch everyone who'd ever hurt him. "Because neither of us is going anywhere. I know you weren't there for that part, but Adam did say that none of them cared."

Merton looked unsure for a moment, like he couldn't believe it really might be ok. "That's...good, I guess. But you can't, I mean, surely you don't want to…" Merton trailed off.

"Don't want to what, exactly?"

"Come on, Tommy, don't make me say it."

"I really don't know what you're going to say, Merton," Tommy said gently, stomach twisting into knots. Because it sounded like those rumors from high school really might have been true.

Merton sighed and fell back dramatically, throwing his arm over his eyes. "You don't want to live with someone who wants that to be true."

Holy shit. Tommy somehow didn't expect Merton to come right out and say it, even if he'd begun to suspect it might be true. He stayed quiet long enough that Merton peeked out from underneath his arm, looking worried.

"I...what if I wanted it to be true, too?"

"You don't mean that." Merton looked genuinely angry, and Tommy could understand why. He knew he'd never given any indication he'd be into that, but it was true nonetheless.

"I do, though."

"Prove it, then."

"What? How am I supposed to prove it? Shout it out into the hall for everyone to hear?" Actually, that might not be a bad idea; if everyone really did think they were already dating, it wasn't like it would matter much to them. He got up and made it as far as getting a hand on the doorknob before Merton grabbed his arm and sighed in exasperation.

"God, do I always have to do all the thinking around here?" And with that, he pulled Tommy into a kiss.

Tommy was momentarily shocked enough to freeze in place before he realized that he'd better get with the program or Merton was going to think he'd been lying. Merton pulled away almost as soon as Tommy started to kiss back, looking shocked himself.

"I did mean it, you know?" Tommy says quietly.

Merton smiles.


End file.
